episode_0211

Frog in the Well (5) ― World Hard Dungeon ‘World Botanical Garden’

[Dungeon clear points will be distributed to the ‘Geoogang’ party!]

[You have earned 2500 points.]

Point acquisition message following the item acquisition message.

The world trio, including me, also got quite a few points, but no one focused on that.

“… … It’s a fucking game.”

Everyone was only looking at the white jewel in my hand.

An item with a distinctly different color from existing items.

Just as I was about to check in detail the first ‘holy object’ I had obtained…

The system message is updated again.

[Awakened ‘Han Gu-won’ has earned the right to become a world citizen!]

[If you accept the World Citizen position―]

Crazy – I have to say something that makes sense.

Without reading any further, I quickly refused to be a citizen and stared at the holy relic.

Tiring—!

[Hand of Salvation]

[Grade: Relic]

[‘He stretched out his hand, and everything that was not good floated away.’]

[Description: Once every ’24’ hours, the target is fixed in the air according to the owner’s will. Depending on the subject’s resistance, the fixation is maintained for up to ‘1’ minute. Only members of the ‘One Mind Salvation Church’ can use it.]

… … oh.

After reading the entire long text, I automatically expressed my admiration.

I held the jewel and aimed at Seongju.

Paaah!

The jewel responded to my will and began scattering brilliant light towards the castle.

“… … Huh?”

The body of Seongju, who was staring blankly at the jewel with an ignorant face, slowly floated.

Seongju, who was shaking with both hands in surprise, looked at me urgently.

“… … what?! What is it, leader! Suddenly I’m in space?!”

It doesn’t float any higher, it doesn’t land on the floor-

Seongju’s body is fixed in the air, making it difficult to control it precisely.

Kiiing! Kiiing!

As if it were a survival instinct, the guy’s mouth started fluttering faster than ever, with purple lights flashing across his body.

“Kang San, please come quickly and hold my hand! This is a real emergency, no, it’s anti-gravity! Is this the item the cult leader obtained?! Wow congratulations! But I am very surprised and sad that you suddenly wrote something like this to me. Please tell me-”

Tuk!

Seongju landed on the floor again in exactly 30 seconds.

He smiled when he saw Seongju landing on the ground and hurriedly massaging his body as if he was surprised.

The ruler of one area was frozen in the air for a whopping 30 seconds.

What they were saying was that they were restrained and couldn’t move.

The strong man who noticed Soyoung Shim’s movements took away about 30 seconds of freedom.

… … It’s crazy.

By floating the holy pearl in the air, I took a close look at the jewel that had lost its luster for a moment.

For the first time, I got an ‘item’ worthy of being an ‘item’.

And that’s not in my district, but in another city I couldn’t even imagine.

‘Relics’ and ‘dungeons’… … .

No, it’s ‘item’ and ‘dungeon’.

While I was happily looking at the ‘Hand of Salvation’, I suddenly remembered Seongju’s words.

The beginning was food, the republic was law, and Korea was military.

The system is preparing to create a nation.

Then the world is-

‘Weapons and growth.’

Isn’t this a solution to the weapons and growth that the Salvation Church has been lacking?

The Holy Knights armor that could be supplied at the blacksmith shop and the cold weapons such as the mace that could be purchased at the store were literally just basic weapons.

If you think about it, Daehan’s urban authority was no different from developing high-quality supplies.

Of course, this does not mean that Project ‘Holy Spirit Horse’ was not good.

However, I will not be able to bind the holy pearl for 30 seconds like this holy relic I am holding in my hand right now.

It is bound to be supplies that are of slightly lower quality than the ‘items’ you get as a reward after beating a dungeon.

Also, what about the training that had to rely on the experience of senior knights and sparring between the Holy Knights?

After absorbing Daehan’s city authority, the situation improved slightly, but the problem was not completely solved.

Daily missions were still literally just homework to be done for a day, and real-life experience had to be solved with the occasional zombie wave.

But, all these problems-

This can be solved by subjugating the ‘world’.

The beginning was food, the republic was law, and Korea was military. The world is the weapon the soldiers will use and the battlefield where they will train.

The larger framework of the system, which had not been highlighted other than ‘skill’, was being highlighted here.

“… … Is the dungeon over once you get the item?”

“Yes, well—yes. By the way, what is the grade of that thing you are holding in your hand? They just said it was a holy relic and didn’t tell me the grade… … .”

I didn’t respond to Seongju’s words and just turned my back.

As I walked towards the door that appeared to be the exit of the botanical garden, I quickly took out a note and a pen from my inventory.

[Always carry it with you! (Still in the world)]

I attached a note to the ‘Hand of Salvation’ and put it back into my inventory.

If you can turn an awakened person the size of a castle lord into a fool who can’t do anything for 30 seconds, what better defensive item could there be than this?

For a wise woman like Seong Ga-eul, 30 seconds of freedom in a crisis situation would be more precious than a life or two.

As I passed through the exit of the botanical garden, I felt the bright sunlight hitting my face again.

When I looked behind me, the botanical garden was gone and there was once again a small cave with a dark interior.

“… … I’m a teacher! I’m Gyojuni-!”

And from the dark interior, the castle owner came out with a loud fuss.

Seeing the two traitors quietly following behind them, he hurriedly asked Seongju.

“Our Seongju is a very powerful awakened person who can even beat Hell difficulty dungeons, right?”

“… … Right?”

Seongju nodded his head with a puzzled expression in response to my gentle question.

I asked again with a faint smile on my face.

“How many hell difficulty dungeons are there in the world?”

“… … 5? Is there 6? There’s that much… … Why?”

“How many hell difficulty dungeons did Seongju clear in total?”

“… … I’m just one person… … There’s a huge difference in difficulty between Hard and Hell, right? I’m also really blood-”

“Yes, yes. Then – where is the closest Hell difficulty dungeon from here?”

“Then you have to go much further out of here. This is a place not far from the castle, and it is a hard dungeon with a set strategy, so there are many parties and guilds challenging it, and most of the Hell difficulty levels are near the castle walls – ”

Seongju, who continued to explain in a whisper, gradually became quieter.

In the end, Seongju, who had been quietly looking at me with his mouth open, looked at me with an expression full of the question, ‘No way?’

I smiled softly and nodded without saying anything.

“… … Now?”

“Now.”

The castle lord looked urgently at the two traitors behind him and asked me again.

“Take us with you?”

“Younggam can leave, but the two of you have to come with me.”

“Why do you suddenly respect the elderly only at times like this?! Oh, you’re suddenly so polite that you’re not expected to be a religious leader?!”

“… … I’m fine.”

The old man who was listening to the story shook his head and stood next to Kang San.

Seeing this, Seongju looked very embarrassed, grabbed his head, and started muttering.

“No- Why are you trying to ruin our lives by not enjoying the full course we have prepared for you? Hell difficulty is on a different level from hard – I’m bloody too – Huh?!”

As if he had come to some kind of realization, Seongju looked at himself, looked at me, then looked at himself again and looked at me again.

“What… … Isn’t this a point bus?!”

“It won’t be a bus.”

“Children, what are you looking at us for? Of course, we pay the bus fare too! It’s just that 2500 points are a lot more than the bus fare! Even if you dig, you won’t get 2500 points! Hell difficulty gives several times more points! Hehehehe—!”

Seongju let out an unpleasant laugh and vigorously passed in front of me.

I started walking along the dirt road between the unpaved and paved roads, exaggeratedly waving my arms as if giving directions.

I slowly turned around and followed Seongju.

I could also hear the footsteps of the two traitors following me carefully behind me.

“By the way, I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but are you sure you don’t mind? Hard and Hell are really a little different, right?”

Seongju slowly shortened his stride and stood next to me, bowing slightly like a eunuch and whispering.

I looked at him and answered politely.

“Seeing as how many hell dungeons there are, I think you probably know the theme roughly, right?”

“Wow, that seems like you are criticizing our world too much. If you think about it, I am the only adventurer who has cleared the Hell Dungeon, and since then, I have stopped going to the Hell Dungeon. And the reason I know how many hell dungeons there are—”

The guy pointed at the air as if pointing at the system window.

“It’s because it’s all visible on the mini-map. If we had a guild that could run the Hell Dungeon to Rote in the first place, we wouldn’t have fallen to the Salvation Bridge like that – uh… … Hehe—!”

It’s a mini map… … .

It wasn’t just my privilege to be able to see the sanctuary and paradise as if looking at a mini map.

In particular, is it only World that has strengths in that area, or do rulers of other cities also have the right to observe their own territories through the minimap?

“Anyway—! The nearest Hell Dungeon is over there!”

A tall gray castle wall was visible beyond the end of a fairly run-down dirt road.

The castle lord’s finger was pointing to the first of the caves that had sprung up near the castle walls.

“Seeing from this distance, there are a lot more dungeons than I thought?”

“Well- it’s a bit like that since there are a variety of things from normal to hell. Moreover, the further away you are from the castle, the fewer parties there are to challenge you, and so the strategy becomes less established, so you only find dungeons near the castle – well, it’s a vicious cycle.”

“Seongju, you just neglected such a vicious cycle… … .”

“No- When did I even say that I neglected it?! Of course we are taking action.”

“Oh… What is that?”

I walked to the dungeon he pointed to and asked him.

Seongju replied, sticking out his chin proudly.

“It’s simple. At a point where things are getting tighter, they are forced to choose between poverty and adventure. As of now, the point requirements have been increasing quite sequentially these days. Dungeons near the castle charge a premium and sell admission tickets more expensively.”

“So do adventurers choose adventure?”

“Well… … As the guild leaders have more family members, their butts naturally become heavier. Well – but super rookies always keep appearing.”

The Seongju guy answered and glanced behind me.

The two traitors that his eyes were watching.

I laughed and stared at Kang San, who was silently following us.

“From the civil police of the Republic of Korea to the world’s super rookie. Our Kangsan never misses a cool title.”

“… … .”

“But why did they so vehemently reject the wonderful title given by our Salvation Church? Doesn’t look much different from Super Rookie?”

“… … .”

The guy who was scratching my insides, saying, ‘It’s not right, it’s not right,’ kept his mouth shut and didn’t say anything.

He just watched me with motionless eyes.

A wrinkled hand carefully grasps Kangsan’s forearm.

This time, he looked at the old man and continued speaking.

“Younggam, I didn’t know that you would betray your mother, whom you followed so much, and follow San-i?”

“… … I did not betray you.”

“Your facial expressions are too honest compared to your words? The usual empty face – Street’s face was as hard as stone. I thought you were visiting paradise with Seongju, but why didn’t you come?”

“… … .”

The old man never answered what I said, but that was actually the answer.

Well, it must have been a very natural choice for an old man who was haunted by the ghosts of the past.

After looking at the lack of inspiration that had not changed, I smiled and continued walking.

Those two traitors cannot defeat me no matter what they do.

the problem is… … There is only one.

“Oh… … The atmosphere suddenly feels very cold.”

One castle lord whose true colors could not be seen in the hard dungeon.

In the Hell Dungeon, where the guy was bleeding and screaming, I figured out his strength and-

I continue to sweep the hell dungeon ‘Relic’, which is clearly better than the hard dungeon.

It would be ideal to give at least one to each executive.

I really wanted to add an insurance policy that would save their lives from unexpected enemies of the prophecy.

Before I knew it, I took steps toward the cave that was right in front of me.

[We are searching for adventurers trying to enter the dungeon!]

[Hell difficulty clear record holder has been confirmed! You can enter Hell difficulty without restrictions!]

[Would you like to enter World Hell Dungeon ‘World Special Mart’?]

“… … It must be a den of Sound Stalker and Jangsan zombies.”

Seongju looks over the system in a very serious tone.

I glanced at him for a moment and continued my steps.

[You have entered ‘World Special Mart’!]

Just like at the ‘World Botanical Garden’ just before, the sight you see is noticeably different as soon as you take a step.

However, it was impossible to confirm in detail how it had changed.

Instead of the sunlight shining from the sky, it was a thick darkness where you couldn’t even tell what was ahead.

Keyee-!

However, with a brief sound, my vision recovered enough to check my surroundings.

“Oh… Old Man, Human Lantern, Nice.”

A brightly shining flame from the hand that Yeonggam extends forward.

As a result, I quietly looked around at the discernible environment.

Long stalls were erected on either side of us, as if they were a sign of the ‘mart’ system.

And pitch-black darkness beyond which nothing can be seen.

[Check the number of people entering ‘World Special Mart’!]

[Adventurer Lee Hye-seong, Adventurer Kang San, Adventurer Park Jeong-woong, Awakened Han Gu-won.]

[Duplicate themes are not possible in Hell Dungeon!]

[Party ‘Spoken Language Course’ can carry out the theme of ‘World Special Mart’!]

“… … How can you be so picky in order to give something so good?”

Seongju is already looking at every corner as if preparing for battle.

Following Seongju, Kang San and Young Yeong also took charge of their own defenses and began to be on guard around their surroundings.

[The theme of ‘World Special Mart’ is ‘Shooter’!]

[Defend the mart without dying for as long as possible!]

[23:59:59]

“… … Fuck, I’m fucked.”

As soon as the 24-hour timer started, Seongju let out a blatant curse.

Seongju, who was staring into space for a moment in vain, caught a glimpse of me as if searching for hope.

“Master—! Will you carry it?! You have to fill up your contribution to get items, right?!”

“… … Is this a similar dungeon to the Hell dungeon I beat before?”

“No—! That’s not true, you can tell just by looking at it! That vicious system gave me such an intuitive goal? On Hell difficulty?! They even kindly announced the time like that?!”

Seongju raised his voice, gesturing to the timer that began to run steadily.

“It literally means, “I was dead during that time, repeat it again!””

Kkkk!

At that moment, a frog suddenly appears from the darkness.

Seongju, who had been whining while looking at me, quickly straightened his posture by staring straight ahead.

Both arms folded long behind the waist, as if to gain rotational power.

The hand that was holding nothing was holding the air as if it were a transparent sword.

and-

Kiiing!

With a short moving sound, Seongju’s arm gently cut through the air.

Wow!

With the sound of something being cut cleanly, a blunt sword was suddenly in the hand of the castle lord.

But I didn’t close my outstretched hand to prepare for an emergency.

“… … what. Are you committing suicide?”

Just like Seongju’s question, the frog’s movements were clearly different from usual.

Frog folded his arms, which had been spread as wide as possible to attack the opponent, and turned his back as if protecting something.

What the castle lord’s sword gently cut was not the frog’s upper body, but its back.

Tuk!

Something fell to the ground inside Frog’s corpse, which was divided into upper and lower body.

A baby with a black face that goes well with the black darkness.

“Such a fucking haircut―!”

At the same time as the startled Seongju rushed forward, the black baby opened its mouth abnormally wide.

Wow!

“Big black―!”

A destructive roar that feels like a train is passing right in front of your ears.

Seongju, who was about to stab Black Baby with the knife he was holding, stumbled.

Keying! Keying!

Purple mana bounces like sparks from his body and then disappears.

Wow!

With the bastard’s cries still ringing loudly-

Kkkk!

Howling in response to the creature’s cry began to echo from all sides of the supermarket.